PSP X6 Saving Problem

[fStop]

I'm new to the board and as such searched quite a bit for a situation such as mine and didn't find anything so hopefully someone will have an answer for me.

I've just recently upgraded from X3 due to getting a computer with Win 8 and have run into a problem that for the life of me can't solve and I hope I can explain it properly so it's easily understood.

I like to work with tiff files and when saving them the file size is being greatly reduced. They'll go from an original size of 50 mb to 20 or so after I use the save button. Normally that might
be a good thing but the situation gets worse. I use my Canon software to convert them from tiff files to jpg's in order to post on a forum and after conversion they are usually in the 11 mb range. If I edit them and resize to 2000 x 1033 pixels for example then use save they will end up being less than 200kb. If I use the " save as " function because I've set it up to use lossless encoding under " options " they'll end up in the 2mb size range. If I edit an original picture of 5000 x ??? pixels, it doesn't make a difference what type of editing, and then " save " it's still greatly reduced in file size from the original.

How do I change the settings so they do not diminish the size if I use the " save " button? Because I wasn't aware of this issue I just blew a bunch of great shots.

As an aside this problem does not happen when I use X3 in my other computer.

[LeviFiction]

We actually had a whole discussion on this problem.

Short answer, you can't. So always use SaveAs.

Long-answer:

PSP's Save option auto-chooses the compression level that it thinks is best....or at least that's the conclusion I've come to. Many people notice some discrepancy comparing Save with SaveAs at various compression levels. We've had people claiming it compresses at level 6, others 17, and still others all the way to 20. So it could be a static compression that just looks different per photo tested, or it can be auto-choosing a compression. I don't know, what I do know is it's gotten people upset.

PSP's JPEG engine, which first caused some uproar, is completely different than the one used in x3 and earlier. This new one either uses settings differently or the settings were updated incorrectly to point to the wrong things in the new engine. Regardless, this new engine attempts to get better size compression with less loss of quality. Whether or not it does a good job is up to you to judge.

My big question is, how much is the quality of the image affected? If it's not affected too badly, does it need to be saved with 2mb worth of size?

If yes, to either of those. Then use Save As.

[fStop]

Hi Levi...

Thanks for the reply.

After spending a lot more time on this issue today and hunting for answers both in the program and on the net I came to the same conclusion that it is a Corel problem. I even went as far as having my laptop with X6 sitting beside my desktop with X3 and compared each setting. Nothing exciting was uncovered.

Like others it causes me concern because for years I've been doing things a certain way and now have to retrain myself so things end up the way I want.

As far as loosing quality when a file degenerates into a much smaller size I'm of the opinion that it doesn't affect the quality if the shot is posted on the net. Getting it printed could be an entirely different matter though so in my better interests I will retrain and use what I discovered and you confirmed by using the " save as " feature. It's a pain in the keester but it is what it is.

For the heck of it and in case it helps others understand what I'm talking about I just performed a bit of a test and here is my results.

I opened a picture that I just took with my Canon 6D in RAW. I converted it to a tiff file and opened it up in X6. I cropped it to 5" x 7", then resized it to 1600 x 1143 pixels. I then used " save as " and the file size ended up at 979 kb. I duplicated every step with the same picture ( yes I saved the original ) and used " save " . The file size ended up at 112 kb.

That's an enormous difference.

I don't understand why Corel found the need to fix what ain't broke.

[Joelle]

I don't understand why Corel found the need to fix what ain't broke.

It's a Corel 'special' which has been repeated many times over the years

Joëlle

[fStop]

I don't understand why Corel found the need to fix what ain't broke.

It's a Corel 'special' which has been repeated many times over the years

Joëlle

Yes it is and that's why I upgrade only when forced.